Welcome to the forums fabiola! thought I'd just take my time to give you the low down on the industry at the moment and some general information, plus other new people might want to take a read.

Bitcoin Mining

Don't bother invest any money into mining at the moment. The big players have taken over the situation at the moment, I'm talking mines that are worth hundreds of thousands if not millions. With the difficultly that has risen to a massive number you will never make a return on investment at the current Bitcoin price. Unless you would like just to do it as a hobby and learn how it works then go for it.

If you do want to try mining I would stay away from these companies:

BlackArrowButterfly Labs

I'm sure there are lots of others but these two are in the lime light at the moment. So make sure you do your research before investing. Right now though I would suggest buying and holding or trading. The reason I say hold is because I would wait until the industry has matured a bit, there are a lot of start-up companies bringing out products with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of venture capital so it will be interesting to see what they bring to the table within the next couple years.

Bitcoin Infrastructure

There are a lot of new Bitcoin companies out there that are making Bitcoin easier to obtain and easier to use. For example coinbase which allows you to buy Bitcoins right away into an account. Around some of these new companies such as Circle who are trying to introduce things like Bitcoin banking. Which I think is absolutely ridiculous, Bitcoin was never meant to be banked.

You need to remember that most of these companies have been started by ex PayPal or ex Visa/MasterCard employee's etc. and they want their hands on your Bitcoins. So do yourself a favour and BE YOUR OWN BANK. Use your Bitcoins with companies that you really think are giving you a good service/benefit.

Bitcoin Security

I'm not going to go to in depth here as I'm not sure of your technical knowledge but I thought it would be a good idea to give you a base idea about Bitcoin security. What you need to know about is how to secure your wallet. I suggest if you have a wallet from Bitcoin Core wallet then you can encrypt your wallet. I suggest using a strong password, I'm talking at least 10 characters minimum, with special characters, capital, lower case letters and numbers. Write it down on a bit of paper to secure it offline so you won’t forget it.

If you want even more security in your wallet I suggest using Bitcoin Armoury wallet which will give you even more security options. If you wanted to go even further I would buy two USB sticks, use the Truecrypt (or VeraCrypt) software to create encrypted file containers on both the USB sticks, I would advise using three different types of encryption with again strong passwords, then back up a copy of your encrypted wallet to each USB stick and then store them somewhere safe. If you don’t know how to use the software there are plenty of guides out there, I’ll give you one for TrueCrpyt:

I've heard of other possible attacks of people attacking your RAM while your wallet is open and is stored unencrypted but I can assure you that is a fairly sophisticated attack and I doubt you will have to worry about that. Just make sure you have decent anti-virus/malware software. I think on the forums some where there is a thread that explains how to 100% secure you’re Bitcoins. Here’s the link:

I hope this gives you a bit more understanding on what’s happening in the Bitcoin world and a bit of information. If you want to help Bitcoin grow just try and introduce it to your friends, if you let your friends know about the benefits of using Bitcoin they are more likely to try it!

After writing this I’ve realised that it might actually be a good idea to create a new thread and just chuck this all in there for anyone to read. If you have any other questions just PM me and I will try and help.

Thanks for all the info kodeon, you legend.Unfortunately I already have miners (close to turning them off very soon if BTC doesn't go up) , and already have a pre order with BFL But I'm sure things will pick up, everyone on here says it's only the beginning in a way

WoW was a terrible game by what measuring stick? I'm guessing just your opinion.

I don't play WoW anymore, only when it first came out, but I can rightfully call it the most successful game on any medium: console, PC, or otherwise.

You can say it's not your cup of tea perhaps, like Fabiola keeps wondering if she's the only girl on here, the fact remains it's the highest grossing video game franchise of all time with over 10 Billion in sales since it came out in 2004.

WoW was a terrible game by what measuring stick? I'm guessing just your opinion.

I don't play WoW anymore, only when it first came out, but I can rightfully call it the most successful game on any medium: console, PC, or otherwise.

You can say it's not your cup of tea perhaps, like Fabiola keeps wondering if she's the only girl on here, the fact remains it's the highest grossing video game franchise of all time with over 10 Billion in sales since it came out in 2004.

Lol no need to wonder or make a big deal out of this, I'm just a normal girl, no scamming/bitwhoring, just normal forum activities

It is advisable not to advertise the fact that you are a girl as people will tend to look at you with a bit of skepticism as there are few girls that are involved in bitcoin and many guys

I've heard that so many times since I joined lol. But seriously it would be great to change that skepticism into acceptance for us girls if more and more of us join up and speak up instead of hiding behind a male nickname forever, which is a pretty sad prospect if u think about it.

Lol no need to wonder or make a big deal out of this, I'm just a normal girl, no scamming/bitwhoring, just normal forum activities

It is advisable not to advertise the fact that you are a girl as people will tend to look at you with a bit of skepticism as there are few girls that are involved in bitcoin and many guys

I've heard that so many times since I joined lol. But seriously it would be great to change that skepticism into acceptance for us girls if more and more of us join up and speak up instead of hiding behind a male nickname forever, which is a pretty sad prospect if u think about it.

If women don't want to reveal their gender on the internet, it's their choice, why are you getting sad?

Lol no need to wonder or make a big deal out of this, I'm just a normal girl, no scamming/bitwhoring, just normal forum activities

It is advisable not to advertise the fact that you are a girl as people will tend to look at you with a bit of skepticism as there are few girls that are involved in bitcoin and many guys

I've heard that so many times since I joined lol. But seriously it would be great to change that skepticism into acceptance for us girls if more and more of us join up and speak up instead of hiding behind a male nickname forever, which is a pretty sad prospect if u think about it.

If women don't want to reveal their gender on the internet, it's their choice, why are you getting sad?

Because it's kinda sad, I dont think they do it just because, I suspect previous bad experiences caused these girls to be guarded and hide.

Welcome to the forums fabiola! thought I'd just take my time to give you the low down on the industry at the moment and some general information, plus other new people might want to take a read.

Bitcoin Mining

Don't bother invest any money into mining at the moment. The big players have taken over the situation at the moment, I'm talking mines that are worth hundreds of thousands if not millions. With the difficultly that has risen to a massive number you will never make a return on investment at the current Bitcoin price. Unless you would like just to do it as a hobby and learn how it works then go for it.

If you do want to try mining I would stay away from these companies:

BlackArrowButterfly Labs

I'm sure there are lots of others but these two are in the lime light at the moment. So make sure you do your research before investing. Right now though I would suggest buying and holding or trading. The reason I say hold is because I would wait until the industry has matured a bit, there are a lot of start-up companies bringing out products with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of venture capital so it will be interesting to see what they bring to the table within the next couple years.

Bitcoin Infrastructure

There are a lot of new Bitcoin companies out there that are making Bitcoin easier to obtain and easier to use. For example coinbase which allows you to buy Bitcoins right away into an account. Around some of these new companies such as Circle who are trying to introduce things like Bitcoin banking. Which I think is absolutely ridiculous, Bitcoin was never meant to be banked.

You need to remember that most of these companies have been started by ex PayPal or ex Visa/MasterCard employee's etc. and they want their hands on your Bitcoins. So do yourself a favour and BE YOUR OWN BANK. Use your Bitcoins with companies that you really think are giving you a good service/benefit.

Bitcoin Security

I'm not going to go to in depth here as I'm not sure of your technical knowledge but I thought it would be a good idea to give you a base idea about Bitcoin security. What you need to know about is how to secure your wallet. I suggest if you have a wallet from Bitcoin Core wallet then you can encrypt your wallet. I suggest using a strong password, I'm talking at least 10 characters minimum, with special characters, capital, lower case letters and numbers. Write it down on a bit of paper to secure it offline so you won’t forget it.

If you want even more security in your wallet I suggest using Bitcoin Armoury wallet which will give you even more security options. If you wanted to go even further I would buy two USB sticks, use the Truecrypt (or VeraCrypt) software to create encrypted file containers on both the USB sticks, I would advise using three different types of encryption with again strong passwords, then back up a copy of your encrypted wallet to each USB stick and then store them somewhere safe. If you don’t know how to use the software there are plenty of guides out there, I’ll give you one for TrueCrpyt:

I've heard of other possible attacks of people attacking your RAM while your wallet is open and is stored unencrypted but I can assure you that is a fairly sophisticated attack and I doubt you will have to worry about that. Just make sure you have decent anti-virus/malware software. I think on the forums some where there is a thread that explains how to 100% secure you’re Bitcoins. Here’s the link:

I hope this gives you a bit more understanding on what’s happening in the Bitcoin world and a bit of information. If you want to help Bitcoin grow just try and introduce it to your friends, if you let your friends know about the benefits of using Bitcoin they are more likely to try it!

After writing this I’ve realised that it might actually be a good idea to create a new thread and just chuck this all in there for anyone to read. If you have any other questions just PM me and I will try and help.

Thanks for all the info kodeon, you legend.Unfortunately I already have miners (close to turning them off very soon if BTC doesn't go up) , and already have a pre order with BFL But I'm sure things will pick up, everyone on here says it's only the beginning in a way

It's cool no worries. If I was you I would try and get a refund from BFL and then spend the money on Bitcoins, I'm not too sure if they are refunding but I know they used to. I think at the moment is a good time to start buying. The price I personally think is low. Also I'm not sure how much mining power you have but I would try and get every last bit of Bitcoins that you can as we all know Bitcoin is finite so who knows what will happen in two years, I guess only time will tell.

Thanks for all the info kodeon, you legend.Unfortunately I already have miners (close to turning them off very soon if BTC doesn't go up) , and already have a pre order with BFL But I'm sure things will pick up, everyone on here says it's only the beginning in a way

It's cool no worries. If I was you I would try and get a refund from BFL and then spend the money on Bitcoins, I'm not too sure if they are refunding but I know they used to. I think at the moment is a good time to start buying. The price I personally think is low. Also I'm not sure how much mining power you have but I would try and get every last bit of Bitcoins that you can as we all know Bitcoin is finite so who knows what will happen in two years, I guess only time will tell.

Sadly no BFL refunds anytime soon (could take years they say, and even then we may only get 10c per dollar)I cant really afford to buy any more BTC right now, I think it is low too but i'm already struggling to keep the BTC I've mined these last couple of months without turning them into cash, plus the electricity bill to keep the miners on is huge. So zero spare pounds to buy more BTC. But at least I'm collecting some in the process lol not many, I have 3 and a half atm, that's probably nothing compared to some people on here

Lol no need to wonder or make a big deal out of this, I'm just a normal girl, no scamming/bitwhoring, just normal forum activities

It is advisable not to advertise the fact that you are a girl as people will tend to look at you with a bit of skepticism as there are few girls that are involved in bitcoin and many guys

I've heard that so many times since I joined lol. But seriously it would be great to change that skepticism into acceptance for us girls if more and more of us join up and speak up instead of hiding behind a male nickname forever, which is a pretty sad prospect if u think about it.

The skepticism is there for a reason because the only time people announce themselves as female is usually just to pretend that they are. There's no reason to believe you are a female either regardless or your instance that you are one. I think a better way for women to get involved would be to not come out and announce that they're female straight away and maybe not even mention it at all unless it needs to be because gender is irrelevant here.

I've heard that so many times since I joined lol. But seriously it would be great to change that skepticism into acceptance for us girls if more and more of us join up and speak up instead of hiding behind a male nickname forever, which is a pretty sad prospect if u think about it.

The skepticism is there for a reason because the only time people announce themselves as female is usually just to pretend that they are. There's no reason to believe you are a female either regardless or your instance that you are one. I think a better way for women to get involved would be to not come out and announce that they're female straight away and maybe not even mention it at all unless it needs to be because gender is irrelevant here.

Usually but not always, not in my case anyway. I wish I could kill that skepticism concept, well I've been here for many weeks now and I haven't asked for any loans or scammed anyone, so far so good